The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1887-07-15
THE PETROLEUM SUPPLY.
Its complete Exhaustion Within Few De-
cades CnnfidentIx Predicted.

Its c complete Exhaustion within Few De-
cades Confidently Predicted.
1t can hardly be doubted, fear, that
the supply both of oil and gas has
now been SO largely drawn upon that
within less than a score of years
scarcely any will be left which can be
brought at reasonable cost into the
market. The boundaries and extent
of the oil regions have been deter
mined. All the sands in which oil will
ever be found in such quantities as to
be worth working are known, and
have been drilled through in various
places. 1t is scarcely possible that any
new fields will be discovered which
will be comparable either in extent or
productiveness with those now known.
So far back as January, 1888, Prof
Lesley pointed out that no petroleum
is now being produced in the Devonian
rocks, either by the process akin to
distination or otherwise. What
has been stored up in the past,
a process which probably lasted
for millions of years, may be got out.
But when these reservoirs are ex-
hausted there will be an end of the
petroleum supply. The discovery of
few more pools of two or three mill
lions of barrels each can make little
difference" Mr.. CARL, whose opinion
on the geology of the oil-bearing dis
tricts may be regarded as decisive, has
come to similar conclusion. "There
are not at present." he pointed out
quite recently, "any reasonable grounds
for expecting the discovery of new
fields which will add to the declining
products OF the old, so as to enable the
output to keep pace with the shipments
or consumption"
The stored petroleum in this region
has then been very nearly exhausted.
In less than generation small part
of the population of this continent
alone has used up nearly all the val
liable stores of energy which had been
accumulated during millions of years
of the geologic past.
More recent inquiries confirm the
conclusions of Prof. Lesley and Mr..
CARL. The signs of exhaustion in the
oil-producing regions can now be
clearly recognized. During the last
four years there has been steady
diminution in the output, accompanied
by an increase in the price per barrel,
which nevertheless does not even main
tain the nominal annual value of the
supply. Mr.. Wrigley announced in
1882 that 154, 100000 barrels of oil had
already been raised up to the beginning
of that year, and expressed the opin-
ion that not more than 100000 bar
rels remained to be raised. In this
last estimate he was undoubtedly mis-
taken, for up to the beginning of 1885
no fewer than 161, 00O,O 900 barrels had
been raised, and in the year 1885 as
many as 21,042,041 barrels (nearly
100000 fewer than in 1880 were OBJ
tanned. But although the estimate in
1882 of the quantity of oil still remain
ing fell far short of the truth, and
though we may admit as possible that
even now much more oil remains to be
put out than the most experienced
biologists suppose, the signs of APP
preaching exhaustion are yearly be-
coming more unmistakable. The ex-
pense of bringing the oil to the surface
grows greater year by year, and
threatens soon to become so great that
the profit of working the oil stores will
be evanescent. So soon as that state
of things is approached, we may be
sure that the oilmen's occupation in
Pennsylvania and Western New York
will be gone. 1t has been stated that
the Japanese, unwilling to let the least
fraction of the earth's interior stores
be lost, have been known to excavate
vertical shaft to depth of 600 feet in
order to raise q few gallons of oil per
day. But in America when the oil
mines are so near exhaustion as this,
they will be abandoned; nay, they will
be abandoned long before they APP
proach such a condition. With the
failures of the oil supply, all the collat-
eral branches of industry associated
with it will fail too. -K7aoWIedge.